Sahili Sheth

Located in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, The Creative Green reimagines the “village green” and “town square” of old. As its name suggests, it fosters connection and serves an unmet need for passive open space in the urban locale.

My primary mission with this multipurpose commons was to fashion a biophilic and ecology-minded space where community residents could bond with nature around the year. My secondary mission was to create a catalyst for social connection through arts programming, healing programs, and access to work and study resources.

The atrium and interiors support these objectives by accommodating the planned programming activities and bolstering the visitor’s connection to nature through integration of sustainable materials, biophilia, and systems thinking, with an eye to aligning with New York City’s 2019 Climate Mobilization Act and its pledge to return the city to the CO₂-expenditure levels of 2005 by the year 2050—an 80 percent reduction.

Designing to meet these goals required considered strategies and the application of ecology to reinforce the parklike atmosphere of the commons. These strategies are fundamental to the efficient functioning of The Creative Green. The diagrams and renderings below convey these considerations in visual terms and illustrate the thesis of this project.